Goodbye But Not Farewell
by Midnight Sin
Summary: [slight spoilers] After FFX2, the Gullwings encounter a whole new kind of problem. With a strange Empire with new ideas for Spira, and with the Gullwings possibly splitting, how can Spira stay together? Rated K plus for mild language


**Goodbye But Not Farewell**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any Final Fantasy X-2 or Final Fantasy X characters though I do own the character, Zalrd.

**Chapter One:** **New Adventures Are About To Unfold**  
Rated K+ for mild language

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_Most people spend their whole lives searching for what they should do. They wrap themselves up in being the best and getting everything. They put all of their effort into being different; they try to change the world._

_At age 19, I've already done this, twice._

_It's not all it's cracked up to be. You spend so much time solving other people's problems, and after a while, it gets kind of annoying. I never have any privacy. Anywhere I go people flock to see the "great High Summoner". I wish sometimes they'd just forget me; and that I never existed._

_Of course, then I never would have met my wonderful friends…_

Yuna sighed. Celebrity status was getting tiresome. Even though it created so much adventure, she would trade it all just to get _him_ back.

She shook her head and ran her fingers through her brown hair. She reflected on her thoughts, and decided maybe she was downplaying fame too much. Sure, it was a hassle sometimes, but the adventure did make up for it.

But, this whole time was really a big waste. She had started sphere hunting to find _him_, not to save Spira. So far, the only thing she had found out was that Shuyin wasn't _him_.

She now accepted the fact that she would never see _him_ again.

A little distraught, she got up off her bed. Talking always seemed to cheer her up. Maybe it was the fact that they always had some problem for her to solve, and that took her mind off herself. She began walking down the cabin towards the elevator, not completely aware of what she was doing. She touched the screen, and the elevator whizzed off.

When it stopped, she was greeted by some unexpected wind. Confused, she realized that she had gone to the deck of the airship. Despite the roaring winds, Yuna felt at peace here. She walked out towards the flying gull on the tip. It reminded her of her life.

_Most people spend their whole lives trying to spread their wings, trying to fly. But I've flown for too long, and for too hard. Maybe it's time I took a rest. My adventures end here. I stop now, waiting for someone else to lift their wings and fly higher than the clouds._

"Yunie! There you are. I've been looking all over for you!"

Yuna turned around to see her energetic younger cousin running up to her. She felt the impact of the running hug and fell over. Rikku giggled and then apologized. She helped her older cousin up and started heading back to the bridge.

"Aren't you coming, Yunie?" Rikku wanted to go back inside, but she didn't want to leave Yuna alone either.

Yuna looked at her cousin with saddened eyes. Rikku had only seen Yuna look like this once- two years ago, after the defeat of Sin. She decided to stay.

As the two gazed off into the clouds whirring around them, Yuna thought she spotted a fiend, a giant fiend. She blinked, and seeing nothing, figured she was just imagining things.

She got up to go inside when she saw it again, swerving in and out of clouds. It shot a fireball straight at the Celsius, and Yuna screamed. Rikku turned and saw the fireball too.

"YUNIE! LOOK OUT!" The fireball was headed straight for her. She ran, as fast as she could, and barely dodged it.

"Call Paine! We need her pronto!" Rikku scrambled around and then dialed her communicator. "Paine, get up to the deck! We need big uberness help, now!"

Yuna pulled out her garment grid and sphere-changed into the Black Mage. She grabbed the tip of her hat, winked, and said, "Let's fight fire with fire!"

She ran out into the open and shot a Fira blast at the dark fiend. It just absorbed it, and if anything, got stronger.

"Oopsies," Yuna muttered.

Paine ran into the frenzy and gasped at the fiend. "We're going to need to hit it with all we've got."

Rikku nodded, and told Brother to maneuver the Celsius closer to the fiend. "…Gosh Brother can't you do anything right? Actually don't answer that!"

"…Roger!" Brother announced while hitting buttons. The Celsius swerved and got closer to the fiend.

Paine changed into the Mascot dressphere. She took over the head part of the costume and struck a pose, "It's the most powerful dress sphere we got!" She looked at her Cait Sith costume and her doll. "Let's do this!"

"Aw…don't you look so cute!" said Rikku.

"We don't have time for your silly games, we've got to defeat this demon before this demon defeats us!" said Paine.

"Kay" said Rikku. "Psychic up!" Rikku transformed into a Japanese school girl outfit with goggles upside down. "Now nothing can beat this!" Rikku smiled. "Let's put this on for size!"

A.N.: I don't have FFX-2 International so I don't actually have this dresssphere :-(

Rikku shot a giant purple glittering beam across the sky from her goggles. She hit the demon right in its eyes. Its hands went up; trying to stop the bleeding pain that this innocent girl caused.

"Who's your Rikku?" The taunt didn't help. The bleeding stopped and the fire demon grew. The more pain that was caused the stronger it got. "Oh poopie…how can we beat a thing like THAT?"

YRP: "It's invincible…"

"Now what?" said Yuna with a frown. "Magic does little and the physical sucks, too. Damn it! We—I can't do anything right! It's all my fault!"

Paine thought. "Try reflecting the fireballs back at this dumb thing. Oh and try not to get hurt. Dodge 'em, that'll do the trick!" Yuna nodded and followed her orders.

"Um guys…nothing's working." shouted Yuna dodging and reflecting fireballs. "We need to somehow use some sort of…" Yuna paused in a moment of thought. "Rikku…does this airship have any sort of guns?"

Rikku thought. "Um…no…Brother made it…that's why it sucks."

Brother protested! "No, Rikku's wrong. This ship has guns and is UBER cool!" _even though your not. _I can send a big thingy-ma-bobber right towards it—"

Buddy interrupted, "But that would use most of our power. We could kill this thing but one hit and we would be crashing down."

YRP: "It's a chance will have to make!" The gang smiled and got ready into action. "Okay Brother, ready? Full speed ahead!" Yuna pointed towards the thing.

YRP: "Let's kick some ass!"

_New adventures…new stories…I guess I'm not done flying yet!_

The engines of the Celsius roared, as a lion would protect his pride. Fierce and strong. The gun started charging ready to blast the enemy's head off. It was glowing as if that would really help and make it stronger. The gun shot; it fired. Aimed and ready.

The blast was most powerful. It was purple with glittering lights swirling and spiraling around the beam. The diameter was huge, almost the size of the Celsius. It struck the demon of death who got stunned. It paused, leaned back, in pain, and leaned forward to stop the agony. But the agony just grew.

Buddy shouted, noticing what was going on, "This is it, one more hit and the Celsius is done for. If that happens, run into the airship, make sure you guys are safe."

The beast knew it was going to die but decided to swing at the Celsius with one final blow. With a magical staff in his right hand and a bomb in the left, he struck the Celsius. So many pyreflies were swirling all over and the beast had almost completely vanished.

The Celsius was hit hard with the staff but it didn't move a muscle. They were safe. They wouldn't die—or at least not crash. But there was still the bomb. The bomb was in its left hand. The explosion was massive and the three girls, frightened and scared, ran into the Celsius covering their heads for the impact they were soon going to face.

They all covered their eyes, too afraid to look at what was going to happen. The airships engine was on fire and black smoke was everywhere. The Celsius aimed downward heading for Bevelle. "Can't you do something?" said Rikku angrily.

"Nothing." Said Buddy trying to steer the Celsius. "We used up all of our power. How about we all just stay calm and think?"

"Stay calm and think, hm?" said Yuna with her eyes looking up at the right side of her brain. Yuna wasn't thinking about the situation. She didn't think at all; she sensed.

_I feel danger. Not the danger of the ship but of darkness. Spira will be headed for trouble. And I guess I'll be the hero to save it…"_

Yuna sighed. Thinking about helping others when she couldn't help herself made her sick and a little bit frustrated, too. "Everyone, relax. It wouldn't be that bad. Besides, don't you want a little danger and excitement in our lives!" Yuna grinned.

Soon, the Gullwings could see the clouds drifting over Bevelle. The airship came to a complete halt, still well in the air. Everyone went flying, crashing into things and breaking Shinra's newest inventions. He was pissed. "Is everyone okay?" Buddy asked looking around. "I think I can control the airship enough to crash it down safely but it doesn't have enough power to not crash at all. Basically, you won't feel a thing."

Buddy was right. The Celsius could be controlled and was safely lowered to Bevelle. But the engine was running low and was on fire and there was black smoke everywhere. When they landed in Bevelle they were met by unexpected visitors.

"There you are High Summoner Yuna. Meyven Nooj of the Youth League, Praetor Baralai of New Yevon, and Gippal of the Machine Faction call you. Report to them, immediately. I can take you there if you like," said a young man with an outfit of armor for fighting, a robe for prayer, and some goggles for digging. He was an officer with the blend of all three factions.

"Well…sure! We'll do it. Lead the way!" said Yuna trying to get her mind off the problems she, herself, was facing. "It'll be fun. Talking to the leaders and relaxing from the incident that just occurred.

The man nodded, still looking at Yuna and not even paying attention to Rikku. "Follow me." The Gullwings followed. Paine kept staring at the guy looking at his absurd, abnormal outfit. So did everyone else.

Soon enough the group was at the top of Bevelle, the area where Seymour and Yuna's wedding took place. There stood four men: Nooj, Gippal, Baralai, and a man the Gullwings and the guard had never seen before. For the guard it wasn't unusual because he, as many other priests, was low key and barely even saw Baralai at all.

For the Gullwings this was a shock. The man had dark skin, brown eyes, and dark brown hair, the color of rich chocolate. He was neither short nor abnormally tall, anorexic or fat, or old by any means. The man had a deep voice and had a unique laugh, one that if you heard you would never forget.

_His laugh…it sounds so familiar. I heard it somewhere I just don't know wha—It's at the tip of my tongue._ _I've heard more then once, as I journeyed on my pilgrimage._

The four leaders were talking amongst themselves, not realizing that the Gullwings showed up. The guard had already left and Buddy, Brother, and Shinra went to the airship to repair it.

"Tell me what's going on here! Who's this guy?" yelled Rikku. Everyone's voices paused, the four men looked back at the Gullwings.

Paine took a deep breath, "So you wanted to see us." Yuna, Rikku, and Paine walked slowly towards the men.

"Hello Lady Yuna, I am Zalrd. These three men told me many things about you. Sounds like I should be praising you, for saving Spira and all." Yuna had a questioning face. She looked down at the ground and murmered softly, "Idiot." Rikku covered her mouth, trying so hard not to giggle.

"Hahaha" The man just laughed. "So that's what you think of me? K, I can deal with that. After all I have been pushed down by many others."

"You didn't know me…these three guys had to explain it? What person wouldn't know who I am? Every day I have stalkers! People coming up to me and asking for an autograph. "

"She does have a point," whispered Paine. She looked at Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal. "Are you sure he was clueless of her? It seems kinda odd he's forgetful," concluded Paine.

The five men were done with this conversation and wanted it to proceed onward to the next. "So you said you got this big thing-a-ba-bobber that will help the advancement of Spira," answered Gippal talking to Zalrd, even though he liked the way the first conversation was going.

"What's wrong with the way Spira is? We had to change Spira over from summoners to sphere hunting because Sin was gone which is why we needed summoners. We defeated Vegnagun but we can still sphere hunt, can't we?" protested Yuna, Rikku, and Paine.

"It's time for a change. Sphere hunting was nice but after awhile, after we figured the whereabouts of Vegnagun, we used the spheres that we collected to track down it. Now, with Vegnagun gone, spheres are useless. Some are powerful, but most are duds. We wouldn't completely wipe out spheres but the search of them should be over," Nooj announced. Nooj looked over his shoulder and nodded to Baralai. He nodded back.

Baralai looked around as if he was looking for something or someone. "I'm sorry Lady Yuna but I have to ask you, and your friends to leave. You three have heard enough and the rest is for us men to talk over. I please ask you that you don't come running up here to hear the rest. You, and the rest of Spira will hear the changes soon after we're done. I'll have a guard escort you." Baralai took a deep breath and looked around again, trying to see if there was anybody to escort them.

"What?" said Rikku, confused on all this escorting stuff. "You said 'the rest is for us men to talk over' Why does this guy get to stay. I was there when we defeated Sin, I was there when the search for spheres began, and I was even there when we defeated Vegnagun. We have enough knowledge and expirence that we can help make changes. Don't leave us out! And you're telling us that this man, one who didn't even know who Yunie was, gets to stay? IS THAT FAIR! STOP BEING SEXEST!" Rikku stopped realizing her voice grew. "Why does he get to stay. Zalrd, what kind of name is that, anyways."

It doesn't matter what his name is, it's just that you thre—" Gippal stopped, noticing a priest walking by, "Excuse me. Yeah, you. Can you escort these three fine ladies to the main part of Bevelle. Thanks amundo!"

The man walked over to the Gullwings and rapped his arms around theirs, making a loop. The Gullwings struggled to break free wanting to listen to the rest of the conversation. The priest sighed, "A handful they are," He then took the Gullwings hands and had to drag them. "What a pity I have to put up with." The Gullwings, realizing that the conversation was probably wearing down and if they went back up it would be over, stood up. The priest thanked them for it was a big hassle carrying them down.

The Gullwings started to think about what the four men were talking about, way up there. They also talked amongst themselves thinking of what changes they would make if they were part of the conversation.

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High up in Bevelle, where the four men were:

Zalrd started the second part of the conversation. "I agree with all of you. Sphere hunting is useless now. What I don't get is if there were groups (factions) that collected spheres, why are there sphere hunters who are amongst themselves such as the Gullwings, the Leblanc Syndicate, the Kindergartians, and the Old Geezers. I think that's pretty gay. I think people should follow under a big group, the three factions, and a leader, you guys."

All four nodded, considering it a possibility. "If we do that, then where would you fall in?" said Nooj talking to Zalrd. "I guess I would guard Bevelle or Luca the most precious places in Spira."

The men talked for a while thinking of other possibilities and what the pros and cons of all the ideas would be and lead up to be.

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Back at the central area of Bevelle where the Gullwings have been placed:

"Whatever they're thinking of I hope it's not some stupid thing. But what could four men come up with? I mean, we know Gippal would mix in some Al Bhed or machina stuff, Nooj would add some violence or find a way to change Spira, as he has done the last two years. Baralai would blend in some ways for the common good of all Spira, something priestly, I guess," said Rikku.

Paine and Yuna looked at each other and back at Rikku. The three nodded. Knowing the secrets and the personal things about the men—that is except for Zalrd, they continued to think of ideas that they could do. Since they didn't really know this fourth guy their ideas seemed a little crazy and absurd.

Their ideas were small, something little and would only be happening gradually or the changes being a fad: dying out and would only last a few years- or maybe just a day or so. But as many ideas as they thought of, none of them was as big as a change as the four men had planned. The fate of Spira lay in all seven of the people's hands, all having the respect from the Spirans to have the power to change Spira and change it forever. But at the time, none knew what their changes would cause and lead up to.

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Well here's my first chapter of this fic. I hope you enjoyed it! Next one's coming up. I hope the conversations helped you figure out where this fic is going. Next chapter will have more info and secrets on this mysterious man, Zalrd. I hope you review after each chapter of after any sort of time. Also keep in mind that you can use constructive criticism if you like and if you think something should be reworded or something doesn't belong in the story that info would help too:D 


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